A Vision for Melbourne: Niall Ross on Establishing Allura Partners New Presence
Allura Partners has recently opened a new office in Melbourne’s central business district to provide its Victorian clients with more comprehensive recruitment services in Executive Search, Technology & Digital, Accounting & Finance and Transformation & Change. The office is headed by Niall Ross, who has a long history in recruitment and team build outs.
Hailing from the United Kingdom, Niall worked with Allura Partners co-founder and CEO, Adrian Belle in ‘a previous life’ some 14 years ago. As such, he has the perfect pedigree to create a mirror image of Allura Partners highly successful head office in Sydney.
We sat down with Niall Ross to chat about his first few months in the job, what excites him about the opportunity and his vision for the Melbourne office in the coming years.
Q. Congratulations on opening the doors to Allura Partner’s Melbourne office Niall. What have the first few months been like for you?
It's been a bit of a whirlwind more than anything else. Much of my time has been spent with the Sydney team getting to know the embedded culture of the business. To me this is really important because I want to continue their success.
Externally, Allura Partners has a unique offering that the market loves, which is fantastic. But from my perspective, I really need to understand why and how they've been successful internally. This will guide the way I build out my team.
Q. And what is it about the embedded culture that you believe has been intrinsic to Allura Partner’s success?
Everyone's on the same page; everyone really wants the business – and everybody within it – to be successful. There's a real drive for success, and for high quality. In Sydney, we have a solid team of people who help each other out – they’ve got each other's backs. That's been really good to see, and it’s something we aim to foster in the Melbourne office.
Q. And why does that make a difference?
I believe, if you can intrinsically build great foundations for a business, the architecture itself will stand up. The external market will see a really successful business that does incredibly well. But underneath it’s a team of really good human beings doing great things together.
Q. What else have you observed?
A good diversity within the business: Allura Partners in Sydney has diversity of age, gender, experiences, ideas, and ways of doing things. And everyone's open to listening. There’s also a really high level of energy; it's a smart, polished, well-run operation.
Q. How have you been received by clients?
I’ve been welcomed and people have congratulated me for joining the business. What you normally find in recruitment and talent companies is that clients work with an individual and if that individual leaves the company, the client goes too. What stands out here is that externally, clients see Allura Partners as a team of professionals who work together to find the best outcomes. They speak highly of Allura Partners as an organisation; it really feels very comforting to know that.
Q. Aside from familiarising yourself with the team culture, you’re already working with clients. What’s exciting you most about the projects you’ve picked up?
I’m working with some high-level executives in the Melbourne market – they’re probably at the pinnacle of their career; and I’m also working with a non-traditional PE acquisitions focused on sustainability. It’s exciting to explore opportunities for development with businesses like this that really care. It gives a sense of purpose.
I’m also working with Adrian Belle and Andrew Smith to really consolidate the strong relationships we have in Melbourne. They're continuing to win more work down here and I think that now, with a Melbourne office, those clients are seeing that we can deliver even more than we have in the past.
Q. Before joining Allura, you worked with a global technology search business. You’ve also worked at a mid to senior level in the recruitment industry. How have these experiences equipped you for this role?
Most recruitment businesses work in either the search side (appointing executive roles in businesses) or the build side (recruiting talent to build teams for executives).
Allura Partners is unique in that it does both.
With my experience, I’ve also seen both sides of the business so I have a broad understanding of the way Allura does business and the depth it provides its clients. Together, we have the skills and networks to place executives and then seek out individuals to work with those executives who are the right cultural fit. It’s a top-down approach that I firmly believe will be truly advantageous for our clients, particularly in the current competitive market.
Q. Drawing on that experience, what would you say are some of the biggest challenges being faced by the clients you are, and will be working with?
I think that post-COVID, there has been a lot of disruption, which breeds insecurity. So, I think the challenge is to find executives, leaders and talent that can bring stability and a sense of normality. More than ever, there’s a need for leaders with a high level of emotional intelligence – leaders who can help people cope and manage a process of constant change. Of course, they also must have the commercial mindsets to grow a business in a very different market.
Our experience working across executive placement and team build outs uniquely enables us to provide broad insights into business challenges like these and to help businesses overcome them.
Q. What are your recommendations in terms of executive search and team build outs in the current economy?
As we know, interest rates are high, therefore money's not cheap. Because of this, venture capital markets are not spending money. However private equity firms seem to be quite active because they can see an opportunity right now to buy businesses at a more considered valuation.
But as we come to the end of what is perhaps a trough, and the market looks to turn, there's an accelerated opportunity to build businesses up. I think businesses should take advantage of the lull that typically comes before a change to start searching for the talent they are going to need in this next period of growth. It’s important to be ahead of the curve. Otherwise, you're just reactive rather than proactive.
Q. What about succession planning?
This is something that organisations really should think more about. If you lose an executive, who have you got in the business to take over their role? If the answer is no-one, you should look at hiring or developing individuals that have the potential to step up into that role.
If you wait until you lose an executive, you’ll end up spending more money bringing people in short-term. So, I think there's a real opportunity now for organisations to take stock over the next six months while the market is steadying out, to review succession planning within their executive team.
Q. Is this something you’re planning to work on with clients?
Certainly, we can help clients with succession planning by mapping out where the executives in their team sit, where the gaps are, the types of organisations they should be looking at to get future talent, and of course identifying that future talent. It’s about starting a conversation now and it’s about planning for what they want the future to look like.
Q. And finally, what excites you the most about the next three to five years in your role?
I’m so excited about the journey ahead. I feel very fortunate to have an opportunity that is twofold – it’s about placing talent in organisations to help them grow and scale, but it’s also about building a strong team around me that ultimately replicates the success we are seeing at Allura Partners in Sydney… If I can replicate even two thirds of the culture that’s been built there, then I have been beyond successful.
If I can build a really good team with passionate individuals who want to be successful in an exciting market, that will be great.
For clients, I’m looking forward to delivering executive solutions that not only reshape the landscape of business but also contribute positively to the world in which we live—a world that my children will eventually step into. I am committed to pursuing opportunities that not only foster growth but also advance equity.
Working alongside exceptional talent is a genuine privilege, and the prospect of working with Adrian again, after a hiatus of 14 years with different career trajectories, is truly exciting. The energy is great, and I feel like I’ve come home.
If you are looking for a new role, or to place your next Executive role, you can reach Niall on niall.ross@allurapartners.com.au.
